Текст книги "Chameleon"
Автор книги: Jackson J. Bentley
Жанры:
Триллеры
,сообщить о нарушении
Текущая страница: 22 (всего у книги 27 страниц)
Chapter 60
MI5 HQ, Thames House, London. Thursday 7pm.
The conference room was already buzzing when the Director walked in. Dame Monica Stewart-Smith sat down and the room fell silent.
“Gentlemen, this has been the worst day for MI5 for a generation, and by God we have seen some bad ones before. So, I want to get this out of the way, and quickly.
Andy, has the redacted Affidavit gone back to the States?”
“Yes Ma’am, almost two hours ago. I blanked out anything that might remotely have caused concern,” the Security Services Director nodded before firing off another question.
“Good. Jeremy, are you lawyers happy with the situation? Are we squeaky clean?”
“Well, Ma’am, happy is not the word,” Jeremy replied. “The Commissioner, and the Metropolitan Police generally, are hopping mad that the Home Secretary has cut them off at the knees, but they won’t be pursuing the case any further. The murderer is dead, and we have shared the evidence with them.”
“She had no choice, Jeremy. This confounded Davis woman has taken on the establishment and has given us a sound whipping.” Dame Monica turned to a distinguished looking man of indeterminate years with a shiny bald head.
“Lawrence, she listed several funds that we have used to pay her in the past. Are they closed, and have the funds been secured?”
“Yes, Ma’am, but there was one account under the name of Britannic Investment Group, in the Isle of Man, that did not belong to us. Miss Davis appears to have inadvertently given us the account details, password and pass number for an account of her own. There was close to a million pounds in deposits in the account.”
“What did you do with it, Lawrie?” the lady asked, using Lawrence’s familiar name.
“We emptied it, Ma’am.” There was laughter all around.
“OK, everyone, let’s put this all behind us and move on; we have a country to keep safe.” Dame Monica intended the meeting to end there.
“And Barry Mitchinson, Ma’am, what should I do there?” the new Director of Special Operations asked.
“Oh, you can leave him to me,” his boss said with menace in her voice.
***
Barry Mitchinson was sitting in the apartment watching Countdown on Channel 4, thinking to himself, ‘So it’s all come down to this; watching daytime TV,” when the phone rang. It was Maureen Lassiter.
“Barry, Five have just cleared a compromise agreement with Gillian Davis. The Home Secretary has signed off on a deal where Doug gets stiffed for the murder and she is ticked off for being an unwitting accomplice. Barry, the chatter on the third floor and in the restaurant is that you’re the one who’s getting the blame. You’re going to be the scapegoat. Everyone is saying that the authorities have had to back off because she has evidence that MI5 tried to kill her. They are also saying that it was you who gave that order.”
Barry’s response would not have been capable of being broadcast until well after the watershed.
“Get me a copy of the agreement,” he added, still seething. “I want to see what that bitch says and I want to be prepared if I’m to be called in front of the old hag again, which seems inevitable now.” Barry paused midstream. “Maureen, we may need to do a runner, and quick.” He looked at his watch. It was too late now to start calling banks.
“Maureen my love, tomorrow we’ll transfer the funds to the Caymans and make sure our passports are up to date. I don’t trust the old Dame to honour her part of the deal. If she’ll dump on the Met, she’ll dump on me double quick.”
They said their goodbyes, and Maureen set about finding a copy of the agreement, one without the redacted elements, if possible. There was nothing on the server, at least nothing that she could access with level three clearance, and so she tried to think laterally. After a few aborted attempts to access the cache files stored on the server, waiting to be scrubbed – deleted by overwriting with ones and zeros twenty one times – she gave up on that. Suddenly she had an idea. It was risky, but it was the only way.
Maureen Lassiter had covered for Vanessa in the Legal Section many times; the woman was a sick leave aficionado. Vanessa worked only part time and so her workstation was empty by this time of day. Maureen booted up Vanessa’s desktop computer and hoped that the part timer hadn’t changed the password since last month. She needn’t have worried. After a few key strokes the computer welcomed Vanessa Adamson to the server.
Maureen guessed that at sometime during the day the Legal Section head would have been copied in on the agreement, and so she used his PA’s access to his Outlook account. The bosses in this place were supposed to be security conscious, but they allowed their PAs to arrange their appointments and deal with their meeting invitations. This gave the PAs access to their bosses email.
Maureen found what she wanted and forwarded the email to her own desktop before deleting her email from the ‘sent’ box. She was just clearing up when a voice called her name.
“Maureen, what are you doing here?” The head of Legal Services was smiling down at her. He had just returned from one of his interminable meetings and was carrying a file under his arm.
“I was wondering, Maureen. Now that your Director is no longer with us, well, maybe you could transfer into here. Vanessa is a waste of space. Things are always done more efficiently when you stand in for her. In fact, I wouldn’t mind betting that you are remedying another of her faux pas as we speak.”
“Vanessa managed to lock herself out of the timesheet system, but I’ve put her back on. Please don’t tell her I told you,” Maureen pleaded.
“I won’t, but give my suggestion some thought, won’t you? There could be a hike in pay grade if you transfer over.”
“Jeremy, I’d love to work for you, if you think you could swing it,” Maureen simpered.
“I think I can arrange it,” Jeremy replied, with a knowing wink that suggested he knew more about her carnal predilections than he ought to have known.
Chapter 61
Courtyard Marriott Hotel, Lynchburg, Virginia, Thursday 9:30pm.
Steve Post, Dee, Pete and DS Scott sat in the restaurant waiting for their food, although no-one had any real appetite. DCI Coombs had been on the phone to Scotland Yard for almost an hour and they were now emailing him the agreement, or affidavit. Coombes would have had no idea how to access the attachment or how to print it, and so the young lady in the business centre was seconded into helping him. Her name was Melody and she was as pretty as the name sounded.
“What I don’t understand,” DS Scott puzzled over, “is why we had to go through that charade today. Why deny everything and wreck our case if she was just going to admit her involvement anyway?”
Dee answered after a quick glance in the direction of the FBI man.
“Paul, she has played us all. The woman is always several steps ahead of the game. She wanted to cooperate so that she could show you, and the Americans, that we had no chance of making a case for extradition, let alone conviction. My guess is that if she had made the admission without first destroying the case, the Metropolitan Police would have decided to take their chances and drag her back to the UK anyway. By rubbishing the case against her she was saying, look, I could walk away from this free and clear, but I want to do the decent thing.”
“Magnanimous in victory?” Paul Scott asked.
“Yes.” Dee was about to continue when a red faced DCI Coombes came over to the table and flung down three copies of the affidavit.
The affidavit was couched in legalese and had been redacted, but it was clear enough. Dee and Pete shared a copy and read through it quickly.
Affidavit
Sworn this 28th day of January in the year 2011.
Before:
Martin K Sherman, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the USA.
I, Gillian Davis, do swear and affirm, under oath, and in the presence of a notary and of witnesses simple, that my statement is a full and honest account, including no fabrications or misdirection and excluding no pertinent facts. I attest that the following words represent my full and complete testimony on the below stated matter:
Statement of:
Gillian Davis, formerly of 311 Covingham Buildings, Partington Road, London. United Kingdom.
I acknowledge and understand that any statement I give may be used as evidence before any court, tribunal or other hearing, howsoever constituted, relating to the deaths in the United Kingdom of Mr Samuel Etundi and Mrs Victoria Hokobu.
The said Gillian Davis will say as follows:
Following the termination of my employment by the UK Government on 23rd July 2007, in the Special Operations Section of Military Intelligence often referred to as MI5, I was approached by Mr Douglas McKeown, also a former operative with the aforesaid agency. Mr McKeown was operating as a sole trader offering outsourced security assistance to various wealthy individuals, companies and to his former employers. His identity was kept secret and his clients knew him only as the Chameleon.
Mr Mc Keown had always been a good friend to me and had acted as my mentor when I first entered the service. I trusted him implicitly and, on reflection, I now see that I looked to him as the Father I had never known. Our relationship was affectionate but not sexual.
Until the arrival of the Hokobus all of the Chameleon’s assignments had been overseas, clear cut and morally defensible, otherwise I would have dissolved the partnership immediately. Typical assignments included the removal of terrorist suspects, Somali Pirates and the protection of major political figures. I recall that on each occasion where he took an assignment that had geo political implications, he required that the agency requesting the Chameleon’s services first clear the assignment with the Chameleon’s main customer, one Mr Barry Mitchinson at the aforementioned agency. As far as I am aware if Mr Barry Mitchinson recommended that we should not proceed we refused the assignment. The Chameleon was a hired gun but his alter ego, Doug, was patriotic. He was not interested in acting against his country or his country’s interests.
This all changed last year when I assisted him in arranging the demise of a HAMAS leader for the Israeli’s. Apparently, they been rumbled carrying out an assassination in Dubai and they could not afford any more bad publicity. Doug carried out the approved assignment and the Israeli’s refused to pay. I recall that Doug was livid and I began to think that he had changed. His home life was falling apart and he seemed to be having a breakdown. I was set against his proposed course of action and refused to be involved. As a result he employed a contact we have used before, whose name I do not know, and he assassinated the Foreign Minister of Israel. The operation was clean as far as Doug was concerned but the French and Israeli operatives turned it into a bloodbath. I had travelled to Paris to find Doug and to dissuade him from such precipitate action, as it could only lead to trouble. By the time I tracked him down it was too late. I saw the assassination unfold on the TV news and so I travelled back to the UK and did not tell him about my abortive trip.
Our bank account was credited with the money owed within 24 hours.
By Christmas I had effectively dissolved the partnership, due to Doug’s mood swings, which I put down to drugs and/or drink, and concentrated on my business, Celebrato Greeting Cards.
Then three weeks ago Doug asked me to assist him in the abduction of a ‘rabblerousing’ couple from central Africa, who he had been told were intending to ‘damage UK interests in Marat’ and ‘overthrow the legitimate government of Marat’ to the great detriment of the already poverty stricken citizens. I understood that the initial instructions had emanated from a Mr Jalou Makabate.
I now realise that either Doug had been misled by his contact at MI5 or he was deliberately lying to me. I suspect that it was the former because Doug played a recording for me that emanated from Thames House and it included Mr Barry Mitchinson voicing the agreed code phrase for; go ahead.
I participated in the abduction of the Hokobus, an act for which I am now deeply regretful but which at the time I understood was for the greater good. I deliberately planned the abduction so as to cause no harm. I carried no weapon nor did I, at any time, use violence. I subdued their bodyguard with a paralysing spray that causes less discomfort and less long lasting effects that CS spray or pepper spray. I convinced the Hokobus to return to their car, where I sprayed them too and left them, leaving the keys in the car for Doug McKeown, who was to drive them to an undisclosed location.
When I left them they were in temporary distress but not in any danger. I was stunned when I learned that they had been killed. By then Doug McKeown was uncontactable and I felt very vulnerable as I had lost a contact lens which may have given the authorities reason to believe that I was a murderer. I decided to leave the country as soon as possible and clear my name. My reason for leaving the country, and for making my statement in protective custody in the USA, is simply that my life may be in danger. In our former business termination often means more than simply being fired.
Imagine then my surprise when the next day I received a coded call from MI5 asking me to attend a secretive meeting with a junior operative. I met him in the abandoned Strand Tube Station, which had been used for anti terrorist training in the past.
He told me that his employers at MI5 did not know who the Chameleon was but that they were convinced it was Doug McKeown and that he had overstepped the mark killing the Israeli Foreign Minister and the Hokobus. They applied pressure on me to kill my old mentor and provide proof of death.
I had no alternative. I was frightened for my own life but in the end my efforts were not necessary. I tracked Doug down to a ‘lock up unit’ we had used in the past and I wanted to confront him. I must stress that I was unarmed and that I was in extreme danger because, his affection for me apart, Doug was a trained killer. I entered the lock up through an open door in the rear, only to discover mayhem inside. There had been an explosion and not much of my old mentor remained. I carefully gathered up his remains and set fire to the workshop.
I passed the gathered remains to my former employers at MI5, who confirmed the remains belonged to Doug by DNA testing. My own view is that someone, possibly the Israeli’s, found out who the Chameleon really was and terminated him.
Later I was asked to attend another meeting with the junior operative, a Mr Tim McKinnon, for debriefing. I was wary because of the fact that I was the only outsider who could now identify Doug McKeown as the killer of the Hokobus, and the only one who heard Mr Barry Mitchinson of MI5 give the go ahead.
I attended the meeting and as I had anticipated Tim produced a gun. Once again I was unarmed. Tim shot me three times in the torso and l fell into a lift shaft. Luckily I was wearing a ceramic body cover under my Kevlar body protector and I was able to break my fall by grabbing onto a rope. Tim shot a couple of rounds down the dark shaft for good measure and left me for dead. I managed to escape but not before I heard Tim screaming. I later learned that a man had been electrocuted by the third rail in the rarely used tunnel and knew it must be Tim.
Given that I was supposed to be dead, and soon would be if I stayed around, I ran for safety and planned to clear my name whilst remaining in a safe haven.
By the issue of this statement I freely acknowledge my guilt as to my participation in the temporary abduction of the Hokobus but stress that, as far as I knew, Doug McKeown was going to hold the couple for three days until the conference was over and then he was to deposit them at their embassy in London.
Obviously I regret my actions. I am deeply saddened by the death of a couple who I now know were more honest and well intentioned than the governments who ordered their demise. I would happily return to the UK to be tried for the lesser offence of assisting in an abduction but I am afraid that I would not live to defend myself as my defence would open MI5 to a scrutiny that they would not find acceptable.
Let me say that I trust the UK Government implicitly and that I trust the head of MI5 implicitly but I believe that rogue elements within MI5, namely Mr Barry Mitchinson and his Director, are operating outside of their remit and the law. I have now been told that the Director took his own life on hearing that I had escaped his jurisdiction.
Finally, attached to this affidavit are details of illicit bank accounts held in safe havens where blood money is concealed and used to pay assassins like the Chameleon, and to benefit the rogue agents named above.
I therefore formally request the protection of the United States of America, whose passport I hold, and in due course I will issue a prayer of pleading to request that any extradition procedures be rebuffed.
Signed: _________________________________Gillian Davis (Miles).
Date: _________________________
Witnesses Ordinary: 1: _______________________Senator Denton Miles III
Witnesses Ordinary 2: ________________________James Lorimer, USA, DoJ
Notary: ________________________________________
Chapter 6 2
Courtyard Marriott Hotel, Lynchburg, Virginia,
Thursday 9:50pm.
Everyone had finished reading the statement and had dismissed it as the fiction it clearly was, whilst all secretly harbouring the feeling that if they had been unaware of the reality, this fiction might just sway them. Steve Post was the first to summarise the situation.
“People, this is the work of a warped genius. She has given up a potential murderer, cast herself as a victim and has implicated the UK in the murder of foreign nationals around the globe. As I said earlier, even the FBI have benefitted from her skills. She has an entry on the CJIS database and, whilst it is scant on detail, it seems to involve Cuba, and that is something our Government won’t want anyone to know.
By writing what, on the surface, is an admission of guilt for kidnapping, she is threatening our two governments with embarrassment and humiliation. Given that she has such powerful allies I suspect that the FBI and CIA will pressure MI5 to let her go. First, because she knows too much, and second, because any future President who looked favourably on them would be an important ally for the secret services.”
Their main courses arrived and although no-one was hungry any longer they ate anyway. There was simply nothing more to say.
***
Just as the disenchanted group in Virginia were beginning their meal, Barry Mitchinson’s laptop beeped. An incoming email had been received. The MI5 man opened the attachment headed Affidavit and read the un-redacted version of the documents. His mouth gaped open as he discovered that he was named as a rogue agent who had authorised the killing of the Hokobus and who had also ordered the killing of Gillian Davis.
Of course, this was all true, but no-one should have known anything about any of it. Bloody hell, this was supposed to be a secret service, a secret service that couldn’t keep a bloody secret!
The phone rang. Maureen Lassiter was on the other line. She was crying. Her sobs were so frequent that he could hardly understand a word she was saying.
“Look at the attachment,” she sobbed, before becoming incoherent again.
Barry flicked over to the last page and read down the list. When he reached the last item he dropped the phone and threw his head in his hands. Maureen Lassiter heard him screaming, “No, no, no!” followed by an insane rant which concluded with the words, “I’m going to kill the bitch!”
***
Maureen hung up the phone and stared in disbelief as her future evaporated in front of her eyes, almost a million pounds disappearing from sight like a bad magic trick.
There, on the bottom line of the attachment, was the information that she and Barry had thought was totally secret:
“Britannic Investment Group, Isle of Man: Manx Bank & Trust
a/c nr. 08136541, password: Alleviate, passcode: 19-24356-98734-34285-A-Q.
Balance: GBP 974,645.00”
It had gone. All of it. It was now safely secured in the coffers of Her Majesty’s Treasury.